Outplacement is the efforts made by a downsizing company to help former employees through the transition to new jobs and help them re-orient to the job market.  A consultancy firm usually provides the outplacement services which are paid for by the former employer and are achieved through practical advice and psychological support.

Outplacement is either delivered through individual one-on-one sessions or in a group format. Topics include career guidance, career evaluation, resume writing and interview preparation, developing networks, job search skills and targeting the job market.

History

The term outplacement was coined more than 30 years ago by the founder of a Chicago-based career consultancy. With the increased rates of downsizing, rightsizing, redundancies and layoffs, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s, businesses increasingly found a need for some form of assistance in reducing the trauma of redundancy for both departing employees and those who remain. Indeed, research shows that losing one’s job is one of the most stressful experiences a person can face, ranked third behind death and divorce.

“Outplacement” firms can also provide counselling support for individuals who have not been offered those services through their employer, but choose, on their own, to pay an outplacement or “career management” service to provide the same assistance. Since the client of an outplacement firm is the individual or firm that pays the fee, the individual who elects to contract with an outplacement firm on their own may often receive more one-on-one time, and more individualized attention, than is usually offered when the company hires the outplacement provider.

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